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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27956099">The Blanket Fort</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonfairy13/pseuds/moonfairy13'>moonfairy13</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>#fairysafe, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Fred Weasley Lives, Pillow &amp; Blanket Forts, fairy safe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-11 00:33:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,911</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27956099</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonfairy13/pseuds/moonfairy13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Fred makes a blanket fort for a special witch, and then adds hot chocolate, gingerbread biscuits, a confession of his feelings and - if Hermione will let him - a Christmas kiss. Pure fluff, of the kind that 2020 needs to end with.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hermione Granger/Fred Weasley</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>140</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Fremione Fanatics 2020 Yule fest</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Blanket Fort</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It wasn’t the best blanket fort The Burrow had ever seen. Heck, it wasn’t even the best blanket fort that Fred himself had ever made. That accolade would have to go to the one that he and George had built for Ginny on the day that they had “borrowed” Bill’s wand while he was in the shower. That particular fort had sported turrets and flags in a valiant attempt to make it look a bit like Hogwarts Castle. Poor little chickenpox-ridden Ginny had felt much better after she had eaten her lunch and taken a nap in it.</p><p>But as Fred stepped back from the blanket fort that he had made once everyone in The Burrow had gone to bed on Christmas Eve, he was satisfied that it would serve its purpose. It was made from two pink candlewick bedspreads, filled with pillows, cushions and a patchwork quilt and lit by a long string of fairy lights. Constellations of stars were suspended from its roof and, in the soft illumination cast by the everlasting fairy lights that Arthur had charmed for the Weasley’s Christmas tree back in 1984, it looked rather magical, even if Fred did say so himself.</p><p>He headed for the kitchen, making sure to tiptoe. Ginny would be doing her, “Oh Hermione, I’d be SO grateful if you could sleep on the sofa so that Harry and I can spend Christmas Eve in the same bed” bit any time now, and Fred smiled when he remembered his sister’s shocked face. She hadn’t quite been able to believe that Fred was suggesting such a thing, until he told her why. Then the youngest Weasley’s face had softened, tears had sprung to her eyes and she had hugged her brother for a good minute and a half before sitting back on the sofa and helping him concoct a plan.</p><p>There. He had heard a slight noise; three wooden, rickety flights up. Fred levitated the tiny marshmallows that he had bought from the muggle supermarket into the mugs. Then, with a flourish of his wand and a smile of reminiscence of the day that his mother had taught him her favourite basic food preparation spells twice - because she went along with his pretence that he was George as well, making him wonder for the first time if she was really as hard pushed to tell them apart as they liked to think - he added a sprinkle of grated chocolate on each. Fred cocked his head as Hermione’s footsteps neared, positioning himself at the kitchen door. Not too close to where she would enter the living room, but not hidden away. He didn’t want to startle her.</p><p>“Oh!” Her exclamation was soft when she saw him standing there in the red tartan flannel pyjamas that clashed so horribly with his hair, but she lowered the wand that she tended to keep half-raised when she entered the unknown these days. Even when the unknown was just the well-warded, half-lit Weasley living room at midnight. “I didn’t know you were still up, Fred.”</p><p>Fred answered by holding the tray up, showing her the mugs and a plate of gingerbread men as he grinned at her. “I was making hot chocolate,” he informed her, as if she couldn’t tell that from the delicious smell that was wafting from the tray, but Hermione just looked more confused. </p><p>“I thought George and Angie were staying at the flat and coming over in the morning to open presents?”</p><p>“They are,” Fred replied. </p><p>“Then who’s the other one for …. Oh,” Hermione gasped and her hand flew to her mouth as she trailed off. Perhaps Fred had sneaked a witch into his childhood bedroom, although Hermione couldn’t imagine how. He had spent the evening like all of them, playing board games and eating mince pies amidst the Weasley family. Her heart sunk a little, which made no rational sense to her at all. “Sorry,” she said, waving her hand at the living room and showing Fred the pillow that she had tucked under her arm. It was one from her childhood home, he knew. She would bring it downstairs for comfort when she missed her parents and it made Fred’s heart ache a little every time he saw it. “Not being nosey. I’m just going to…”</p><p>As Hermione spoke, she turned to the sofa, and it was then that her eyes fell on the blanket fort. She gasped again, and made another small exclamation, a softer one this time.</p><p>“Oh,” she said. “That’s lovely.”</p><p>“I made it for you to sleep in,” Fred said, moving towards her, watching her closely, as if she were an animal that might get skittish and run, if he weren’t careful in his approach. He put the tray on the coffee table that he had pushed aside when he had created his masterpiece. Tomorrow morning, the table’s surface would be crowded with more mugs of chocolate, tea and coffee and likely some of the many presents that the Weasley family would unwrap together. For now, it simply held Arthur’s reading glasses, the Ladybird Book of Aircraft, which Hermione had loaned him from her collection, and a bowl containing tangerines, one of Elliot's plastic dinosaurs and a few other holiday treats that somehow never made it onto the tree. </p><p>Fred patted the sofa, smiling at Hermione’s surprised expression as he encouraged her to sit next to him. She did so, her eyes narrowing slightly as she tried to work out what was going on, and whether it was a prank or not.</p><p>The look in Fred’s eyes suggested not, in as far as she could tell. But there was no way to be sure. “I know it must be odd for you,” he said, lifting a mug from the tray and putting it in her hands. “Having Christmas with us, I mean. And I know about the Ministry’s mission to get your parents back in January, but even so…” He trailed off to blow on his own hot chocolate before taking a sip, and then he nodded at Hermione’s untouched mug. “Try it,” he encouraged. “It’s Mum’s recipe, and I did what she always tells us to and sent love and happy thoughts into it with the frothing spell.”</p><p>Hermione obeyed, and then smiled as she tasted the creamy drink. “It’s lovely,” she reported, again, and Fred beamed. </p><p>“Have a biscuit,” he offered, pushing the plate of gingerbread men towards her. “I didn’t make those. Mum did. But I’d like to learn muggle baking … maybe you could teach me sometime?”</p><p>“I could do that.” Hermione smiled at the thought of teaching Fred to bake the muggle way, and the inevitable chaos and mess that would likely ensue. But it wasn’t an unhappy thought. In fact, the idea made her feel rather warm inside, although that could also be the effect of the hot chocolate and gingerbread, she rationalised.</p><p>Fred still had a soft look on his face and it made Hermione feel odd when she looked into his eyes. She didn’t exactly know what that was about, so she turned instead to look at the blanket fort again. It was as if she had only just heard his earlier words.</p><p>“You made it for me? How? Why?” Her questions were soft rather than challenging, but they made Fred smile all the same.</p><p>“With my hands and my wand, and because I remember you talking about how your dad used to make you blanket forts when you needed comfort,” he replied. “I thought it might be a bit odd for you, being with us and not them for Christmas, and I wanted to give you a bit of comfort. Oh no,” he whispered, when he saw two fat tears sliding down her face. “Don’t cry, love. I never know what to do when witches cry…”</p><p>His actions belied his words though. Fred transferred his mug to the hand furthest from Hermione and offered her his arm. She shifted closer to him, and leaned into his embrace.</p><p>“It’s beautiful, Fred. I’m just a bit overwhelmed by it. I can’t believe you remembered that … or did that for me. Ron and Harry never remember that kind of thing.”</p><p>“Well, no,” Fred laughed. “I don’t suppose they do. Harry’s the least observant wizard in England, and Ron, as you yourself once noted, isn’t exactly the most emotionally intelligent teaspoon in the cutlery drawer. But Ron and Harry aren’t representative of all wizards, you know.”</p><p>Hermione smiled and nodded against his chest, not quite sure what to say next. She was feeling lots of feelings, and wasn’t really getting time to analyse them.</p><p>“Is it really for me to sleep in?” she asked, and then something occurred to her. “How did you know I would be sleeping down here?” She turned to look into Fred’s eyes.</p><p>“Well…” His smile was lopsided, as it often was when he was about to either reveal a secret or say something that he wasn’t certain would be received well. “I may have played a part in Gin’s decision to kick you out of her room tonight…”</p><p>Hermione’s eyes widened for a second, and then she laughed, in surprise. “You encouraged your sister to sleep with Harry so you could get me down here and make me a present?”</p><p>“Oh Hermione,” he shook his head with a laugh of his own. “You make it sound like I’m pimping her out, when we all know she and Harry have been at it like bunnies since the night after the final battle! But yes,” he continued. “I needed her help. I wanted to give you this and maybe something else as an early Christmas gift, but not in front of the rest of the mob. So we came to an arrangement.”</p><p>Hermione’s eyes flicked back and forth between Fred's face, her own lap and the blanket fort as she processed everything while drinking the rest of her hot chocolate. Fred waited patiently. He had watched Hermione for enough years to know that she needed time to think things through. He also knew that allowing her to have that time was far more likely to lead to a good result for both of them than pushing her for a decision before she was ready.</p><p>Finally, she spoke.</p><p>“Can I go in?” Her eyes flicked to what appeared to be the door of the blanket fort and then back to Fred’s.</p><p>“Of course … it’s all yours,” he said, with a bow. “To do with as you please.”</p><p>Hermione didn’t need to be told twice. She put her mug on the tray, got down on her hands and knees and crawled into the fort, pulling her pillow behind her.</p><p>“It’s beautiful,” she said, turning to lay on her back and look at the stars that Fred had enchanted onto the ceiling.</p><p>Outside, Fred grinned to himself. If nothing else happened between them tonight; even if he didn’t find a way to tell her of his feelings, of how his heart swelled with emotion and longing whenever he saw her, then it would all have been worth it just to hear the smile in her voice in that moment.</p><p>“I’m glad you like it,” he told her.</p><p>“Aren’t you coming in?”</p><p>Fred’s eyebrows raised and he felt an odd sensation in his stomach.</p><p>“Well,” he said. “I wouldn’t presume to enter a lady’s blanket fort without a proper invitation.” He looked down at himself, checking that he was still respectable. Ish. “Especially as we’re both in our pyjamas!”</p><p>“Frederick Gideon Weasley, would you care to enter my lovely blanket fort?” </p><p>“I’d love to!” He was beside her almost before he had finished speaking, and then the doorway was closed and it was just the two of them and the soft blanket walls and the fairy lights and the smell of chocolate and gingerbread and suddenly it was if Hermione had entered another universe. A very safe, very warm universe. Which only held her and Fred Weasley in a blanket fort. And she knew that nothing bad could ever happen in that universe, and couldn’t remember the last time she had felt happy or safe like this.</p><p>In that second, something shifted for Hermione. She didn't know what it was, but she knew the world would somehow never be the same again. Blinking, she gazed around her, trying to find a rational explanation for the most irrational sensation she had ever experienced.</p><p>It wasn’t like the tent they had stayed in for the quidditch world cup. Fred hadn’t added an expansion charm to the inside of the blanket fort, for a start. Hermione found she was glad about that, because she was feeling very aware of Fred beside her, in a very good way. His proximity was creating sensations that were unusual, she realised, though not at all unpleasant. She found herself wanting to reach out and touch the soft fabric of his pyjamas. Or maybe his skin. Maybe both. And then she looked into his eyes and they were dark and held a tender expression.</p><p>“This is a lovely present, thank you.”</p><p>“It’s my pleasure, Hermione.” He took a deep breath, just as overwhelmed by the experience of being enclosed in the safe space that he had made for them. Fred felt an odd sense of pride at having made the fort that was making Hermione smile and relax. “I actually wanted to give you another present, but I don’t know if you’ll let me.”</p><p>Hermione looked surprised. “Why wouldn’t I let you give me a present?”</p><p>“Because it’s not a thing, it’s an experience.”</p><p>He swallowed, and then remembered the Sorting Hat’s certainty about where he belonged. He decided to trust that and, at the same time, act on the vow he made to himself seven months prior when he realised that he was, actually, contrary to logic and the laws of physics, still somehow alive under the fallen wall. He took a deep breath, ready to go for it. </p><p>“Can I give you a Christmas kiss, Hermione? It’s okay if you say no.”</p><p>She only needed a few seconds to process that one.</p><p>“Yes. I’d like that.”</p><p>Fred nodded and moved forward, pressing his lips to hers. Hermione sighed a little as his hand cupped her cheek, and then whined as he moved away.</p><p>“More,” she whispered, pulling him back. Fred leaned forward again, this time giving her a longer kiss, encouraging her to open her mouth as he slid both arms around her body and cuddled her close. Hermione felt as if she was melting, and perhaps she was, but she didn’t care. They kissed, stroked and chatted. They paused to gaze at each other, whispering each other’s names, and then kissed some more.</p><p>They kissed until the clock chimed one, and then realised that they were both tired and needed to sleep.</p><p>“Here…” Fred cast a spell that Hermione didn’t know and the patchwork quilt was suddenly over them rather than underneath. “Not that I’m assuming I’m staying the night in your blanket fort, but just so you don’t get cold.”</p><p>“Would you stay the night with me in my blanket fort?” she asked. “If I wanted you to?”</p><p>“Hermione,” he said, and for once there was no question in her mind; she knew that he was serious. “I’ll stay with you your whole life and make you a blanket fort every Christmas Eve if you’ll have me. I’ll sit by your feet while you open your gifts tomorrow. I’ll hold your hand and tell my family I’m yours and I’ll accept whatever Ron and Harry dish out,” he leaned in and winked, “while secretly knowing that I’m the better wizard.” </p><p>Hermione smiled. "Fred Weasley." She looked at him, gently shaking her head in wonder at what had happened between them.</p><p>“Yes, Hermione," he grinned. "That's me. At your service, now and forever. I’ll be the wizard begging you to come to Diagon Alley for a walk on Boxing Day so that everyone can be jealous of me, because I’m holding your hand. And,” he finished, sounding more serious now, “I’ll be by your side while we get your parents back and do everything I can to help you feel relaxed and happy and comfortable all the time.”</p><p>“That sounds amazing. I’d like all of that,” Hermione said, feeling quite at a loss as to how she could let Fred know that she felt the same way about him, and about their future together. She wasn’t as good with words as him. Not when it came to this kind of stuff. And then it came to her. She reached behind her. “This is my special pillow, from home,” she told Fred, pulling it towards them and encouraging him to lift his head. “It makes me feel safe. I never let anyone else borrow it or sleep on it, but you can share it with me…”</p><p>The smile on Fred’s face let her know that he had understood the significance of her gesture. As they drifted off to sleep on Christmas Eve in each other’s arms, with their heads close together on Hermione’s special pillow, Fred felt as if he had won the Triwizard Tournament on the back of an ironbelly while personally defeating all the dark wizards in the world. This Christmas, his first with Hermione at his side, was going to be the most amazing Christmas ever.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Happy holidays! 🎄 And thank you for all the happy comments you've left me this year 😊 I've been working on a Fred and Hermione bed sharing 5+1 fic that I plan to start releasing after the holidays, so watch this space 💜</p></blockquote></div></div>
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